Marie Curie， in a simple， dark evening dress， glanced① down the long banquet table. The English ladies seated between the gentlemen at the dinner wore such beautiful jewels that Marie could not take her eyes off them.
But， although Marie herself wore no jewelry， everybody else’s eyes were on her. She and Pierre were guests of honor at this banquet②. They had come to England at the invitation of the Royal Institution. This important group of scientists had asked Pierre Curie to give them a lecture on radium.
The lecture had been a big success. And now everyone on London wished to meet Professor and Madame Curie and entertain them at parties and dinners.
Marie turned to Lord Kelvin， an old friend and fellow scientist， who was seated beside her. “Everyone is so kind，” she said to the old gentleman. “Pierre and I are not used to having a fuss made of us. We rarely go out at all. We never seem to have the time。”
“I can understand that，”Lord Kelvin said， smiling. “But you must remember that you are now a very famous lady. You are the first woman who was ever invited to the sessions of the Royal Institution. In fact， I would say that right now you are the only famous woman scientist in the world.”
Marie looked a little shocked when Lord Kelvin said that. She didn’t feel famous and she didn’t want to be. It would take too much of her time. She glanced at Pierre.
He had just given a magnificent③ talk on radium. Now he was quietly answering the questions of the famous scientists who sat near him. Even in his rusty black evening clothes， it seemed to Marie that he was the most distinguished looking man in the room.
In the carriage going back to their hotel， Pierre started to chuckle.
“What are you laughing at， dear？” Marie asked him.
“I saw you looking at the ladies’jewels，” Pierre told her. “I， too， was looking at them. But not with so much admiration as you did. I was playing a little game.”
“I was trying to guess how much money each necklace and bracelet was worth. And how big a laboratory I could build if I had that much money to spend. And do you know， Marie，” he laughed， “before I knew it， I had a group of buildings as large as the Sorbonne！”
Marie laughed， too， but she patted his hand tenderly. “Pierre， you must have the laboratory you have wanted for so long，”she sighed. “All these honors are very nice， but we would so much rather have a decent place to work in. Someday we’ll get it， won’t we？”
“Yes，” agreed Pierre. “I’m sure we will.”
In November， a few months after their return to Paris， Pierre made another trip to London. This time it was to receive the Davy Medal. This great honor had been awarded to Pierre and Marie by the Royal Society of London.
When he came home， Marie and little Irene met him at the door of the apartment. Irene， who had been told that her father was bringing home a prize， danced up and down with excitement.
“Papa！” she cried， after he had lifted her up and kissed her. “Let me see it， let me see it ！”
Her father rummaged④ in the valise he had been carrying. “Now where did I put that thing？” he exclaimed. “I’m sure I brought it home with me—I think.”
“Is this it， Pierre？” Marie had picked up a rather heavy package that lay under Pierre’s hat on the table.
“Yes， that’s it.” Pierre unwrapped⑤ the package and lifted the leather lid of the case. He held up a heavy gold medal on which were engraved the names： PIERRE AND MARIE CURIE.
“Why， it’s a great big gold penny！” Irene cried. “It’s pretty， isn’t it， Mum？”
“Yes， it’s very pretty，” Marie answered. “But what on earth will we do with it ？”
“Perhaps we could put it on the table here， for a paper weight，” Pierre suggested. “Or maybe we could well hang it on the wall.”
He took up the medal to see how it would look over the mantel. It slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor with a thud.
Irene darted to picked it up and stood feeling the ridges in the engraving⑥. Then， laughing with glee， she began to roll it along the carpet like a hoop.
A happy smile spread over Pierre Curie’s gentle face. “See， lrene loves her new toy，” he said to Marie. “So， we have found a use for the medal after all.”
① glancev. （粗略地）看一下，一瞥，扫视
② banquetn. 宴会，盛宴
③ magnificentadj. 壮丽的，宏伟的，极好的
④ rummagev. 在……里翻找，搜查出
⑤ unwrapv. 解开，打开，展开
⑥ engravingn. 雕刻，雕刻术版画，雕版印刷品
居里女儿的新玩具
玛丽·居里身着深色简朴的晚礼服，扫视了一下那张长长的餐桌。英国的女士们与先生们交叉而坐，满身珠光宝气，玛丽看得都入了神。
可是，尽管玛丽自己身上没有穿金戴银，但众人的眼光却都集中在她的身上。她与皮埃尔是今天宴会的贵宾。他们是应皇家科学研究院的邀请来到英国的。这群显赫的科学家们邀请了皮埃尔·居里来给他们做有关于镭的演讲。
这次演讲十分成功。此刻伦敦的每个人都希望能一睹居里教授和居里夫人的风采并邀请他们参加联欢会及宴会。
玛丽扭头转向坐在她旁边的凯尔温勋爵，他是她的一位老朋友和同行。“大家都太好了，”她对这位长者说道。“我和皮埃尔都不习惯人们对我们大肆宣扬。我们的确很少出门。似乎总没时间。”
凯尔温勋爵笑着说道：“我能理解，可你要记住你现在是位声名远扬的女士了。你是世界上首位被邀请参加皇家科学研究院集会的女士。实际上，我得说你是世界上唯一著名的女科学家。”
听到凯尔温勋爵这么说，玛丽显得有点震惊。她并没觉得出名并且也不想出名。这会占用她很多时间。她扫视了一下皮埃尔。
皮埃尔刚刚就有关镭做了一个精彩的讲话。这会儿，他正在平静地回答着坐在他身边的著名科学家们的问题。尽管他的黑色礼服陈旧褪色，但在玛丽的眼里他仍是屋内最耀眼的人物。
坐在返回旅馆的车厢里，皮埃尔开始咯咯地笑起来。
“你笑什么，亲爱的？”玛丽问他。
“我看到你在看那些女士的珠宝，”皮埃尔对她说。“我也在看。不过不像你那么羡慕。我在做一个小游戏。”
“我想猜猜每条项链和每只手镯会值多少钱。而且要是我能有那么多钱我将能建个多大的实验室。你知道吗，玛丽，”他笑道，“我会一下子就拥有一群像巴黎大学那么大的大厦。”
玛丽也笑起来，但她轻轻拍着他的手感叹道：“皮埃尔，你一定会有你盼望已久的实验室的，这些荣誉固然不错，可我们的确要有一个像样的工作环境。我们迟早会有的，对吗？”
“是的，”皮埃尔赞同道：“我肯定我们会的！”
到了11月，即他们返回巴黎的几个月后，皮埃尔又去了一趟伦敦。这次是去接受戴维奖章。这个巨大的荣誉是英国皇家学会授予皮埃尔和玛丽的。
当他回到家时，玛丽和小埃莉尼正在公寓的门口迎接他。埃莉尼得知父亲回家带了奖品，兴奋得手舞足蹈。
“爸爸！”她叫道，爸爸举起她亲了亲。“让我看看，让我看看！”
她的父亲在随身的施行包里到处翻着。“我把它放在哪了？”他叫道。“我肯定亲自把它带回来了——我想是的。”
“是这个吗，皮埃尔？”玛丽拾起桌子上盖在皮埃尔帽子下一个很沉的小盒。
“正是它。”他拿出一枚沉甸甸的金质奖章，上面刻着名字：皮埃尔和玛丽·居里。
“哎，是枚大个儿的金便士！”埃莉尼嚷道。“它很精致，是不是，妈妈？”
“是的，是很精致，”玛丽答道。“可我们用它到底能做些什么呢？”
“或许我们可以把它放在这儿的桌子上，当镇尺，”皮埃尔建议道。“要么也许我们——嗯——把它挂在墙上。”
他拿起奖章想看看放在壁炉上怎么样。奖章从他的手中滑了出去，铛的一声掉在地上。
埃莉尼冲过去把它捡起来并摸着凸起的纹路。接着，她一边愉快地笑着：一边她开始在地毯上像滚圈一样地把奖章滚了起来。
皮埃尔·居里温和的脸上现出了笑容：“看，埃莉尼喜欢她的新玩具，”他对玛丽说。“所以，甭管怎样我们把奖章还是派上了用场。”